later gator

last night the gator had its inaugural run with the neighborhood crowd. we haven't seen much of each other since the holidays; the weather and early darkness is pretty prohibitive. but last night was a beautiful 75 until well after dark, so as the sun was setting we all gathered outside again - and the gator came.
some of you have been asking about our gator. well, i was pretty trepidatious the first time sunny climbed on. that thing goes FAST - fast enough that i really can't keep up with it at this point in my pregnancy. (i know that some people do jog all the way up until delivery. my round ligaments just aren't up to it. it's quite painful.) i had nightmares of him crashing into cars (stationary) and cars crashing into him (nonstationary) while i waddled helplessly along behind (pushing sailor in the stroller. she doesn't trust his driving at all, and is scared of the gator).
but amazingly, my three year old is an excellent driver. after only one or two minor mishaps the first couple of times out (including a collision with a large rock), i am amazed by his ability to watch the road (or sidewalk), negotiate obstacles, and listen to me - when he can hear me, that is, over the noise of the engine and the road. i've screamed myself almost hoarse once or twice.
the rules are: stay on the sidewalk when you can. stop at ALL corners and wait for me. and then tell me where you're going from there. (i learned the hard way that we need to 1)carefully indicate direction, and 2) pick out the next place he needs to stop, BEFORE he steps back on the gas.)
so with two year old abby next to him, and our six and seven year old other neighbor girls sitting in the bed with their legs dangling out, he zoomed around our street and cul-de-sac. there were some older boys out riding bikes and electric scooters - that did make me a little nervous. i called them out a couple of times of getting in front of him or too close to the sides - i was afraid they'd freak him out a bit.
not a chance. he loved every second. and you know the gator is cool when the ten-year-old skater boy who lives around the corner begs to drive it. (uh, no. because i said so, that's why.)
so next time i'll take my camera. 'cause in this case, a picture was really worth a thousand words.